Payette County High Point Trip Report
Date: September 26, 1999
Author: Ken Jones
Head north from Emmett at the point where Hwy 52 turns sharply from N to E.
Follow a paved, then gravel roads for a long way. There is a junction in a
creek bottom where Fourmile Road goes left and Big Flat/North Crane Road goes right (unsigned).
Use your maps (DeLorme?) to get here. Head north on Fourmile Road.
We tried the southerly jeep trail which heads easterly from Fourmile Road at 3776'
on the map (it actually starts just south of there, now). Despite the clearance
and 4WD of our rental Trooper, we gave up on this at about the boundary between
sections 8 and 9. We returned to Fourmile Road and headed north.
We then took the more northerly jeep road. It starts where shown on the map,
but on the ground you will find the Washington and Gem county line signs right
at the junction. I think the signs are misplaced. Anyway, this jeep road is
high-clearance 4WD, but drivable in our rental Trooper. Andy could Martinize the 4763'
summit right down to touching the top rock from a vehicle, if he really tried.
We then returned to the saddle between 4763' and 4767' and parked.
We hiked west, picking up the jeep trail on Willow Ridge just about at the 4640+'
saddle by the word "TRAIL". Followed that trail to the vicinity of the first bump,
at the extreme NE corner of Payette county. Found a cairn just left of the road,
which I believe marked the section corner between sections 3/4. (Went down hill
and found a land survey benchmark in a similar cairn, with a witness post,
for the section 33/34 corner.)
From the 3/4 corner, used a compass (declination set at 19 degrees east, per the map)
to head south down the section line. The northerly possibility is within a few feet
of the cairn; the other is a short distance downhill from the road perhaps
100 yards farther south. We crisscrossed the area until we were sure we'd
been pretty darn close!
This whole area appears to be BLM land, and open to public access as long
as you shut the gates behind you.
We ran out of time before we could get another county this weekend. We'll be back!